1976 SSPC: Mike Tyson (No, Not That One), Dale Murray & Steve Stone

The Shlabotnik Report

9 months ago

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From when I was a kid and up until I was in my 20’s, when you spoke of “Mike Tyson”, you meant this guy.
“The Original Mike Tyson” was a middle infielder with the Cardinals and Cubs from 1972 to 1981, and he was a starter in many of those seasons. I think Mike has a pre-production sample of “Big League Chew” stuffed in his cheek.

Dale Murray pitched in 518 games over his 12 year career, and started just one of those (more on this in a bit). In 1975 he went 15-8 as a reliever… I don’t know what that says about him or the 1975 Expos. Murray pitched for both Canadian teams (Expos and Blue Jays) and both New York teams (Mets and Yankees).
Murray lead the Majors by pitching in 81 games in 1976; that ties him with a bunch of other pitchers for 74th best all-time.

His one and only start came while pitching for the Reds on July 28th, 1977. The Reds scored 6 runs before Murray took the mound, but he pitched 1+ innings and gave up 6 runs, including home runs to Bill Buckner, Bobby Murcer and George Mitterwald, and doubles to Ivan deJesus and opposing pitcher Ray Burris. Burris would also have a bad start, giving up 8 runs in 2+ innings. The Cubs would win 16-15 in 13 innings; the two teams would combine for 43 hits.

One of these days I’m going to cave in and just admit that I’m looking to collect any card which shows a player in the Expos’ tri-colored cap (which they wore from 1969 to 1991).

Steve Stone is looking very Seventies on this card.
He’s probably best known as a broadcaster with the Cubs and White Sox, but he won the A.L. Cy Young Award as he went 25-7, 3.23 with the Orioles in 1980.

Shea-o-meter:
Tyson and Stone are probably both in Shea, but it’s not like anything I decide would hold up in a court of law. I’m declaring those two “Can’t Tell” and the Dale Murray Card as “Shea”.
Shea: 81
Pretty sure it’s Shea: 14
Can’t tell: 22
Not Shea: 9

1970’s Census: Keeping track of all the instances of 1970’s trends
Steve Stone seems to have pretty wavy hair based on his later cards, but I’m going to go ahead and declare this a perm.
Total Cards: 125
1970’s Sideburns: 73
Fu Manchu: 5
Mustache other than Fu Manchu: 40
Afro: 2
Perm: 3
Aviators: 8
Long Hair: 31